My husband and I have $224 a month for groceries in foodstamps. We try to use coupons, but can never save more than $10-20 per transaction (roughly). We either shop at Kroger or Walmart. We jump between things a lot, but these are some of the things we usually buy every month:

Try as I may, I cannot seem to stay under 2000 calories. For dinner the last three nights we've been having two steak, onions, and peppers fajitas on wheat tortillas with a serving of cheese, lots of baby spinach, salsa, and a serving of Greek Yogurt. That averages out to nearly 1000 calories by itself (or over 1000 if we use two servings of cheese), leaving little for me to eat during the day if I'm anticipating this meal later. I like Greek Yogurt and blueberries (roughly 200 calories) or a peanut-butter and banana sandwich (roughly 370 calories) earlier in the day, but I can't think of anything else to make (though I have a freezer full of frozen veggies and chicken and salmon and even squid). I also have a thing of oatmeal that's been sitting on my counter for who-knows-how-long.

Taking items from my list, do any of you have any meal or snack suggestions that would be low in calories and satisfying? Or other ingredients I could buy that would be affordable to make a meal with my ingredients?

Have one tortilla instead of two. Maybe with more veggies if you want it to be just as filling.

Chicken can actually be pretty easy to deal with as long as you don't overcook it. It can be baked with just a little bit of oil and seasoning on top. Any type of seasoning you can think of. Even just a little bit of bbq sauce.

I like Salsa Chicken, it's pretty cheap and easy.... Jar of salsa, Can of Diced tomatoes, Sliced up Chicken breasts. And simmer until chicken is cooked through and you can shred it up. It's good for several meals and you can add in veggies or spices to fit your palate.

Oatmeal, btw, is just fantastic with cut up fruit, or even your own added in brown sugar or maple syrup or honey (just a little is a lot). You can even put a little bit in with some yogurt.

You can make a quinoa salad which consists of chopped up baby spinach, onions, bell peppers, cooked quinoa, salt, pepper, lemon olive oil.. You can skip the lemon olive oil and just use lemon juice to cut down on calories. Pair it up with a grilled chicken breast for a yummy healthy meal.

Agree with other posters- just eat smaller portions. That way you stay under your caloric limit and you make food last longer!

I eat LOTS of eggs- they are nutritious and cheap. Maybe do some omelets with cheese, spinach, and salsa.

Stir fries- stir fry bagged veggies with coconut milk and peanut butter or soy sauce (or just soy sauce). The first makes a sort of a Thai-flavored peanut stir fry and the second a more Chinese-style stir fry. Very filling- will last for at least a couple meals. Eat with rice or wheat noodles.

Homemade refried beans- tons of recipes online, just cut down on the oil. Or, cook the beans normally and add a packet of taco seasoning (super cheap). Make a taco salad- cabbage/lettuce/spinach with beans, ff yogurt (instead of sour cream), tomatoes, salsa, cheese.

Lots more you can do with beans. Bean soup, dal (Indian-style beans, delicious. Some good recipes online if you just google it), hummus.

Smoothies! Esp with a tbs of peanut butter, they are a very filling lunch or dinner.

Lastly, the wheat tortillas, salsa, and even bread you can make at home for much cheaper. Wheat tortillas are just water and whole wheat flour with a pinch of salt and a bit of oil. They take a bit of time to roll out, but I think are worth it. Salsa is super easy- dice tomatoes, toss with onions and cilantro. Puree if you want. Again, much cheaper and you can make big batches of it. (You can also do homemade spaghetti sauce this way too). Homemade bread is just fun to make and you don't even need a bread machine

Not that you always have to make your own stuff, but it definitely can cut down on costs if you make your own a couple times a month.

I'm going to chime in on the portion-size thing too. You may be going a little heavy on the calorie-dense ingredients (cheese, steak, yogurt) and light on the low-cal ingredients (the peppers, onions, and spinach). Coincidentally, the calorie-dense stuff also tends to be the dollar-dense stuff; you can probably get away more cheaply with meals that load up on fresh/frozen produce.

If eating only one fajita/enchilada/wrap doesn't seem like something you want to do--and I can totally understand if that's the case, because I like eating two whatevers instead of one, too--make smaller whatevers. I'm consistently able to fool myself by using smaller tortillas, less filling, etc. and serving myself two of them. It also helps to eat them on a small plate where they don't look so lonely.

How do you feel about pork? Some people have dietary restrictions against it, others just don't like it, but sometimes you can catch a pork tenderloin on sale and turn it into a lot of meals. One night is pork medallions, next night is a pork stir-fry, next day's lunch is paneed pork cutlets. Getting a bigger cheaper cut and learning to cut it down yourself can be a HUGE money-saver, but I don't try it with anything more complex than a pork loin or a chicken (my husband could break down an entire side of beef into primal cuts and then into all the fancy stuff, but there isn't room for that in our freezer).

Lentils are a great change from beans. For that matter, beans can be a great change from beans. If you usually do red kidney beans, try black beans. Tired of black beans? Eat white beans or pinto beans.

Look around the world for inspiring recipes. I make a mean lentil curry now, and my husband makes black beans that wouldn't be out of place in any Cuban restaurant in addition to the Louisiana red beans and rice we grew up eating. Other countries' cuisines aren't as fussy about keeping sweet and savory flavors apart, so experiment with some of those clementines in a pork or chicken dish or throw a handful of raisins and a couple of cardamom pods into your quinoa.

Use all those frozen veggies in stews, soups and curries! So cheap, so tasty, and so filling if you add in a little of whatever protein floats your boat. Ooh, and chili's good, too. Make it with lots of tomato and peppers and add in some other "stealth" vegetables from the freezer to make it lighter on calories and heavier on vitamins.

I can empathize with not having a big budget and with wanting to eat well, so I'll be reading this thread with interest!

Thanks, everyone! I'm one of those people who can get stuck on wanting the same thing every night (hence the steak fajitas three nights in a row). Last night I made chicken burritos, but we ran out of spinach, and we didn't use yogurt, because I only have one container left, and want to use it for my breakfasts.

I was thinking of making a chicken stir-fry with peppers, onions, and quinoa tonight. I like using my slow-cooker for cooking chicken, because I can never get it cooked thoroughly cooking it other ways.

I think I might have some canned tomatoes, canned chillies, a bag of dried lentils, and a bag of dried split-peas, and a bag of wheat egg noodles, so maybe I will try to incorporate those into something.

Does anyone have any ideas for a vegetarian fajita recipe. We love mexican food in this house. lol.

Nola Celeste, thanks for the suggestions. Sadly, my husband hates pork, so I don't buy it since we're on such a tight budget.

indiblue, it's really that easy to make tortillas? You don't even need yeast? Also, how do you get them so ... bendy? Oh, and that stir-fry idea sounds interesting. I might try that, since I have unsweetened coconut milk on hand.

Lovely: That salsa chicken sounds good. I might try making it in a slow-cooker.

Here's what I do for fajitas. Cut up onions (biggish chunks), and peppers and tomatoes (and sometimes a zucchini) and a jalepeno. Heat a little oil and through everything but the tomatoes and cook on quite high heat. The veggies get a little seared and it gives it a little smoky flavor. Throw the tomatoes in once has progressed. They have too much moisture and the searing doesn't work. You can use red pepper flakes instead of the jalepeno. Heat up some black beans and there's your veggie fajita.

And speaking of black beans, here's how I like them: saute onion and jalepeno, add a smidge of curry powder and cooked beans (I often use canned but cooked from dried is probably better). Add about 1/2 bunch of cilantro (chopped). Serve over brown rice with a sprinkling of cheese if desired. Add assorted veggies if desired. I've done tomatoes, zuke, and peppers.

I know you didn't mention brown rice above, but you might consider it. A little goes a long way.

You may want to check out the shoestring meals forum (it's a dieting cheaply forum, there are all sorts of great money saving tips and recipes).

Also check on amazon.com for money saving books and cookbooks. You can use amazon to make a list of the ones that look interesting, and then take it to your local library to check out (and even order through interlibrary loan) those that look interesting.

Good Cheap Food is an excellent back-to-basics cookbook (I bought mine from amazon for under $10 including shipping, there are a lot of books there you can get even cheaper - as little as $4 including the $3.99 shipping).

I have tons of money saving tips, because when we first moved to Wisconsin, we went a spell when our food budget was crazy tight. Once even $25 for a whole month (we weren't eligible for food stamps, but our medical costs left little room for anything else). And even now, we rarely spend more than $200 per month on groceries, but I'm a bargain-hunting fiend (I learned tons from the Tightwad Gazette books - which I highly recommend. If you asked for books on eating and living cheaply on freecycle, you probably can find someone wanting to get rid of them.

Hubby and I are going out for the evening, so I've got to go, but I'll post some more specific info when I get back, or tomorrow.

tommy: Thanks for the stew idea. I will try that. Um, to be honest, I'm just a bad cook. lol. My chicken always turns out pink unless I slow-cook it, though I have baked it a couple of times and it turned out fine. I'm a little paranoid of my own cooking, afraid that it will make people sick.

indiblue: I tried your stir-fry suggestion last night. It was tasty. I think I was a bit too skimpy on the peanut-butter, though, so I will add more next time. The coconut-milk made a yummy sauce when it mixed with the veggies' juice. I used a bag of stir-fry veggies, a piece of a bag of ocra, a piece of a bag of yellow squash, a bag of brussel-spouts, and two cups of shredded chicken breast. There's even leftovers for a lunch. I had to share some of the chicken with my cat. He was begging. lol.

Yeah you cant go wrong with stew, dice the steak/chicken and fry on a hot pan for a few minutes. chicken diced cooks relatively quick, and literally just add it with all the vegetables you want, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic and maybe a chilli pepper (remove the seeds). You can leave this slow roast for an hour or two if you want. all is will happen is the vegetables will become softer and maybe mushy (which isnt a bad thing) it turns out almost like a mediterranian stew/ casserole. Another option is chicken curry in exactly the same way, if you like I can post my own actual recipe I use, and it tastes fine and no unhealthy sauces etc. I make batches and freeze them in containers, so all I have to do is boil less than a half cup rice/pasta and just defrost the frozen dinner in the microwave. That way you arent tempted by quick options for unhealthy dinner because its ready in 10 minutes.

Basically you can add anything to curry. But for me I use about 6 chicken fillets, diced into cubes. I use, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2-3 teaspoons indian hot curry powder and a few cloves of garlic (2-3medium cloves). Just dice the chicken and mix the spices in a bowl and sprinkle it over the diced chicken and mix it in, you can add more or less after you make the first batch (I actually use more, but like it hot) and 1/2 - 1 chilli without seeds. Add a little oil to a non stik wok (literally maybe a teaspoonful). Let this heat and add half of a chopped onion diced finely, and the crushed garlic, and the chopped chilli. Leave this fry for maybe 30 seconds then add the spice coated diced chicken, leave on a fairly high heat, my cooker goes up to 6, i start at 6 to fry it for maybe a minute, stirring all the time and then lower it to 4, add some water (To stop the chicken burning and sticking to the wok). Cover this and keep some water in the pan (maybe a half glass) and just leave this boil away while you prep the vegetables, keeping an eye on it so it doesnt stick or burn.
I dice about 6 peppers, red and green (I avoid yellow because they contain sugar I believe). Mushrooms (about 10 medium). Onion 1-2 large onions, and anything else you want to add. I add brocolli, baby corn on the cob, green beans, literally anything you want. dice them into strips (Any way you want at all).
After these are chopped and diced I get a large saucepan, put the chicken from the wok into this (wok isnt big enough lol) and add all the chopped peppers and veg (You can also add some finely sliced apple, it works well). Just leave this big pot on the heat for as long as you want, with about 2-3 glasses of water in it at the start, water will come out of the vegetables as they cook. I can leave it on the heat for anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Often just let it simmer away there. how you will know is by the vegetables, see are they crunchy or soft (soft for me, but it depends how you like them). Then I make the sauce, I get a packet of hot curry powder, for curry sauce, and add two tablespoons (5-4 tea spoons) with 2 oxo cubes (Beef stock cubes) to cold water (about 2-3cm up on the glass), stir it for a minute with a fork to take the lumps mout and microwave for about 30 seconds to thicken it slightly. then add this to the pot and leave it continue simmering, simmering will reduce the water and thicken the sauce slightly. Basically thats it, sometimes I add some tomatoes or a tin of shopped tomatoes to bulk up the sauce. this makes for me about 4-5 dinners, freeze it and just throw it in the microwave and while the rice is boiling the microwave will heat and defrost the curry. the only problems is the sauce may not thicken, add some extra stock cube or curry powder to do this (You can use flour either). Really its trial and error so maybe make a small batch first, i.e 1 chicken fillet 1 pepper, etc so you see how it turns out. That way you know to add more or less of everything, and just scale it up to get it right. Its relatively simple, just att eh spices to the chicken and after that just cook everything. You can even put it all in a roasting pot and leave it for hours in the oven. Once their is fluid on it it wont dry out or burn, and will just soften all the vegetables up nicely. If you require fiurther information just elt me know. I just like it because you can put any vegetables at all in it to bulk it up. and no canned sauces or tins or jars so its fairly healthy (apart from the tablespoons of curry powder for the sauce, which we can live with).

You can save a lot of money by buying a beef roast and slice it into steaks yourself. If you google "cutting a roast into steaks" you will find articles on which roasts to use, and how to cut them. For example, the chucky eye roll, or boneless chuck roll is essentially the same cut of meat as a ribeye.

I tend to overcook chicken too, which is why I buy bone-in thighs or leg quarters. They seem to be the least popular cut, so the sales tend to be awesome. I never pay more than $1.25 per pound for chicken, and can usually find really good sales on legs and thighs (less than $1 per pound). Then I use them in the crockpot to make about a dozen different varieties of pulled or stewed chicken (I just have to remove the bones and the skin after cooking, before serving. You can remove the skin before cooking too, if you thaw the thighs first).

For example, last week I made a buffalo chicken version that was awesome (I found the recipe on youtube when I was looking for lower carb slow-cooker recipes). I put four frozen chicken thighs into the crockpot, then added a bottle of hot sauce (I actually used half a bottle of two different hot sauces I bought at the dollar store). That's all the recipe called for, but I also added some dehydrated chopped onion and some garlic.

I set the crockpot to low and 12 hours later, when the meat was falling off the bones I turned off the heat and let it cook before putting the crock in the fridge. When it was cool, I pulled out the bones and skin and used my washed hands to pull the chicken into threads (you can also use two forks). I put the crock back in the linter and turned it on high. When it started to bubble I added a tablespoon of tomato paste and Splenda to taste.

Since I have a lot of recipes that call for just a bit of tomato paste, Whenever I open a can, I drop tablespoons of tomato paste onto wax or pastry paper and then freeze. Once they're frozen, I peel them off off the paper and put them into a ziploc freezer bag. That way I don't have to have an open can in the fridge.

My endless varieties of pulled chicken are essentially the same. Chicken thighs or quarters simmered in a sauce with fresh or dry onions and/or bell pepper.

Other sauces I've used

cola barbecue
1 cup of diet Cola (Splenda sweetened, because aspartame breaks down during cooking) and 1 cup of ketchup or tomato sauce.

1 can of cream of mushroom soup, sliced onions and 1 small can mushrooms (optional), and right before serving, stir in some sour cream (otherwise the sour cream seperates).

Any of these can be made with a beef roast instead of chicken thighs.

Then I serve them with a starch - tortillas, rice, quinoa, pasta, cauliflower rice (rice grated and steamed to simulate rice) or mashed cauliflower/potatoes or baked potatoes.

I shop oriental stores for things like rice, beansprouts, cabbage, bok choy, soy sauce, fish sauce (awesome even in American dishes in place of worcestershire sauce), canned mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, basil... because the prices on these items are far cheaper than in most other grocery stores (often the price per item will be the same, but the quantity will be much larger and for some items, like the scallions and herbs, much fresher).

We buy in bulk whenever we can, but always calculate the price per pound or per ounce, because the biggest isn't always the best deal (but it usually is).

So many of the money saving tips I learned came from the Tightwad Gazette that I recommend reading it and any other similar book or website you can find. It seems overwhelming at first, but every little bit you can save, adds up.

Searching for low-budget cooking cookbooks is a bit of a hobby and I've read most of the books my library has (and some I liked enough to buy on amazon.com when I could find them for under $10 including shipping)

For example here are some I've either read and liked, or are wanting to read (I'm on the waiting list for some of these books, because they're so popular in this economy)

Miserly Mom cookbooks (there are several cookbooks)

Vegan on the cheap : great recipes and simple strategies that save you time and money / Robin Robertson.

Budget dinners! : 100 recipes your family will love.

The $5 dinner mom cookbook : 200 recipes for quick, delicious, and nourishing meals that are easy on the budget and a snap to prepare / Erin Chase.

How to feed your whole family a healthy, balanced diet / Gill Holcombe.
by Holcombe, Gill.

Fast, cheap, and easy : 100 original recipes that make the cooking as much fun as the eating / JoAnna m. Lund. (this author relies a bit too heavily on processed foods for my tastes, but she does give exchange information, which I like because I'm on an exchange plan).

Eating economically is just plain smart : how we feed our family of 7 for less than $50 per week / Mary Jane & Jeff Cardarelle-Hermans.

Cheap eating : how to feed your family well and spend less / by Pat Edwards ; illustrated by Don Nedobeck.